Low estimates pay for Pearl Road upgrades in Brunswick

BRUNSWICK — After price estimates came back lower than expected for the Pearl Road reconstruction project, the city will upgrade by using concrete to do base repairs instead of asphalt, which is cheaper but does not last as long.

The $1.4 million Ohio Department of Transportation-led project requires the city to pay 20 percent of the construction costs for the portion of the road in the city.

To cover its share, the city planned to use a $436,773 grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission.

In September, cost estimates were high enough that the city set aside $104,000 of cash reserves for asphalt base repairs that would not be covered by the grant.

To do concrete base repairs was estimated to cost an additional $60,000.

But City Engineer Ryan Cummins said those numbers now have dropped, and the city could cover all its costs with the grant by doing asphalt base repairs or spend just over $39,000 in cash reserves for concrete.

“Both the administration and City Council thought that doing the concrete repairs would give us a better long-term solution,” Cummins said.

Finance Director Todd Fischer said the $39,000 will come out of the approximately $240,000 the city has to spend on road maintenance every year.

Cummins said the repairs, which are slated to begin mid-May, are expected to last about 10 to 15 years.

The last major work on the road was in 2003, he said, but no base repairs were done at that time.

The project involves removing the top layers of asphalt, he said, completing any needed base repairs and covering it with a new top layer of asphalt.

“I think it’s a longer-lasting method and provides more structural support,” Cummins said of the concrete option, which City Council informally approved this week.

He said there should be no major road closures as a result of the construction, which should be finished in August.